Apparatus for the artificial incubation of eggs



. F. L. MOLL. APPARATUS FOR THE ARTIFlCIAL INCUBATION OF EGGS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 8.1919.

Patented Dec. 12, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

, F. L. MOLL. APPARATUS FOR THE ARTiFICIAL INCUBATVION OF EGGS. APPLiCATlON FILED OCT. 8. 1919.

1,438,455. efited Dec. 12,1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEE1 2.

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F. L. MOLL.

APPARATUS FOR THE ARTIFICIAL, INCUBATION 0F EGGS.

APPLICATION HLE D OCT-8| 1919.

Patented Dec. 12, 1922.

4 SHEETS-SHEEI 3.

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I 0. Emmy F. L.-MOLL. APPARATUS FOR THE ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION 0F EGGS.

I APPLICATION FILED OCT. 8.1919- 1,438,455.

Patented Dec. 12, 1922.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4.

Patented lDec, 112, i922.

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l ddyit d FREDERICK LEONARD IVIO LL, OF TURRAMURRA, NEAR SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES,

AUSTRALIA.

APPARATUS F03 THE ARTIFIGIALINCUBATION 0F EGGS,

Application filed October 8, 1919. Serial No. 329,343.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that FREDERICK LEONARD MOLL, a subject of the King of Great Lrit ain and Ireland, and residing at Eastern Road, Turramurra, near Sydney, New South l Vales, Australia, has invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for the Artificial Incubation of Eggs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for the artificial incubation of eggs.

My incubating apparatus comprises a chamber to which atmospheric air may be supplied andwhich is furnished with a compartment adapted to receive a series of trays or drawers in one or more vertical rows, which are capable of transference from any one of the zones of said compartment into any other thereof; means for supplying heat to said chamber and heated atmospheric air to the separate trays or drawers therein through a porous diaphragm in the side walls of the said compartment which are in communication with firms in the sides of said chamber; means for regulating the quantity of heat admitted to said chamber; and means for allowing escape of waste gases or vapors from said chamber. Preferably the chamber is constructed to receive a row-or rowsof trays or drawers, eachrow being arranged in tiers of seven which permits of each seventh drawer of a row being used as a hatching drawer. A nursery drawer may also be provided below each of the hatching drawers, and the lower part of the chamber may also be furnished with a drawer or drawers adapted to receive a supply of eggs to be preheated therein before such drawer or drawers are transferred to the upper part or primary zone of the chamber. The incubating chamber may also have fitted to its front portion facing the trays or drawers a rack frame capable of being collapsed and folded against the front wall of the chamber, and which carries a pair of rails for each dra ver upon which the latter may rest when the drawers are withdrawn from the separate compartments provided for them in the said chamber. 7

The invention is illustrated in the accomoanying drawings in which,

l is a perspective view of an incu mg material.

bating apparatus provided with a tier of drawers and a folding frame affixed to its front portion to hold the drawers when they are pulled outwardly from the chamber;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation thereof;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view illustrating IIiBEtDS forvdistributing heated atmospheric air to the drawers,-

ig.-5 is a broken perspective view. illustrating the interiorof one of the drawers which is shown partlyremoved from the incubating chamber and resting on the folding frame; 7

F ig. 6 is a broken perspective view illus trating the interior of one of the drawers;

Referring to the drawings :the incubating chamber comprisesrespectively front, rear, and side Walls, 1, 2, 3, and 4, bottom 5, and a removablecover 6. Itmay be supported on the frame 30. The walls 1 i are en closed by an outer casing 7 and in the cavity between saidwalls and casing isplaced insulating material 8 such as wood charcoal, or slag wool or any other suitable insulat- Similarly the cover .6 and the bottom 5 areinsulatedby insulating material 8. A series of openings are provided in the front wall "1 through which the tier of drawers 9 are inserted. These drawe'rs excepting the lower one thereof are supported on crossbars 10 which extend from the front wall of the chamber to the rear wall 2 thereof are supported near their ends by the upright posts 11 which reach. from the top of the chamber to. the floor 12 of a compartment 13 which is constructed internallyof the chamber. The compartment 1?) has side walls 14: and 15, the lower and upper parts of which are solid whilst their intermediate portions are formed with a porous diaphragm 16 consisting of a fibrous fabric such as Hessian or like suitable material which is capable of permitting heated atmospheric air to pass therethrough. In the drawings the lower portions of the walls 1 and 15 are shown extending upwardly from the floor 12 to a point a small distance above the top of the hatching drawer l7 and the upper portions of the loo walls are shown extending downwardly from the top of the chamber to a point about parallel with the top of the second drawer of the tier of drawers 9 and the porous diaphragm 16 is stretched between both por tions with its ends fastened to them respectively. Such diaphragm is disposed at each side of the tier of drawers 9 to permit 01" heated atmospheric air being supplied through it to each of the drawers of the tier 9, and the upper portion of the walls 1%,- and 15 must be so arranged that the up permost drawer of the tier of drawers will receive the greatest quantity of artificial heat. The walls 1 1 and 15 may be re placed by rectangular frame constructed oi? battens secured. to each other and to which the ends of the porous diaphragm 16 are aflixed. Such frame may be detachably fastened within the incubating chamber in the position occupied by the walls 14 and The removable frame is, however, constructed in manner similar to the walls 1 1 and 15 to receive the porous diaphragm 16.

Intermediate the walls 3 and a of the incubating chamber and the walls 1 1 and 15 of the compartment 13 are the heat radiating lines 18 which are in communication at their lower ends with the cavity 19 formed in the lower portion of the incubating chamber between its bottom 5 and the floor 12 of the compartment 13. As the floor 12 forms the support for the egg preheating drawer 21 which is positioned immediately above-it and as the heat from the cavity 19 is to be deflected into the radiating fines 18, the floor is provided on its bottom with a sheet of asbestos .28 or other suitable heat insulating material and its top is furnished with a packing of heat non-conducting material 27 such as slag-wool. or the like over which is laid a sheet of asbestos 29 or like heat insulator.

In addition to l'iaving the tier of drawers 9 beforementioned, the incubating chamber is titted with hatching drawer 17 which situated below the lowermost drawer oi the tier, and it may also be equipped with a nursery drawer 20 below the hatching drawer, and also with an egg preheating drawer 21 which forms the lowermost drawer of the series of drawers described. The prehea ing drawer 21 rests on the floor 12 of the compartment 13 and the nursery drawer 20 is carried on the floor 7 3, whilst the hatching drawer 17 is supported on crossbars which are similar to the crossbars 10 and are similarly afiixed to the posts 11. The floor 73 may, however, be dispensed with and the hatching drawer may be mounted on a pair of crossbars similar to the crossbars 10. Dividing; the tier of drawers 9 from the hatchingdrawer 17 is the floor 22 upon which the lower dra-.-.'er oi"? the tier of drawers 9 15 supported. Each of the eas es drawers in each tier of drawers is spaced sufficiently apart to allow of the proper degree of? heat to be transmitted to them. In Figs. 1 to 3 the tier of drawers is shown with equal spaces 23 between them and the hatching drawer 17 and nursery drawer 20 with a greater space 24 between them which latter space is about equal to a similar space 2 1 between the floor 22 and the hatching drawer 17. The spaces between the separate tiers of drawers may, however, be arranged so that the space between the fourth and fifth and between the fifth and sixth drawers of each tier 9 will be greaterthan the spaces between the others drawers of the tier of such. in the front wall 1 oi the incubating chamber between the lowest drawer of the tier oi drawers 9 and the hatching drawer 17 and between the latter andthe nursery drawer 20 sight windows 25 and 26 are fitted. It will be understood that the preheating drawer 21 may be dispensed with, any eggs which are to be preheated before the tray coi'itaining them is set in the position occupied by the uppermost drawer of the tier 9 in the incubating chamber, may be preheated in any suitable device independent of the incubating chamber, or they may be preheated in any vacant drawer of it the whole of the drawers are I the tier 9 not occupied by e at the one time.

Each of the w'ers betorementioned, has solid sides and ends 31 and 32 respectively with meshed bottoms 33 constructed of woven wire or wire netting of narrow gauge or like perforated material. In the drawings the nursery drawer is shown with a solid bottom. it may, however, be fitted with a solid bottom or with a perforated bottom as described. All the drawers are open at the top and heat can therefore be transmitted from them to-each other. As there are spaces 23 between the bottom and top respectively oi each pair of drawers oil? the tier of drawers 9 heated air ma be supplied to each o1 them from the rad' ilues lS. The spaces 23 between each pair of drawers in the tier of drawers 9 are in communication with the compartment 13 and heated air is consequently free to pass from the fines 18 through the porous diaphragms 16 into the compartment 13 and thence through the spaces 23 into the individual drawers of the tier of drawers 9. To permit waste gases and vapors to be discharged from the incubating chamber the lower portions of the walls 14: and 15 are extended upwardly from the floor 12 to a position a small distance above the top ot the hatching drawer 1'? and pockets 3 1 are thus "former. between the lower portions of the walls and 15 and the sides of the hatching drawer 17, and the nur "y drawer 20. The spaces 2% between these drawers ggs undergoing incubation messes are open to the pockets 34 and gases and vapors arising from the eggs in the hatching drawer and the chickens in the nursery drawer are free to issue into such pockets and to be discharged to atmosphere from the incubating chamber through outlet holes 35 which are furnished in the rear and front walls of the chamber and communicate with the pockets 34.- at the bottom thereof. Similarly, any vapors or gases arising from the tier of drawers 9 are discharged to atmosphere through the openings 35 as the pockets form the lower part of the compartment 13 and are open at their upper ends to said compartment.

A construction of perforated floors suitable for use in all the drawers described is illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. The floors are preferably constructed in two sections, which comprise frames 36 and 37 and meshed bottoms 33 which latter are stretched within the frames and secured thereto at their ends. One of the frames36 is of smaller' width than the other; both of the frames, however, may consist of strips of metal joined together at their ends so that the frames will be of rectangular shape, and the ends of the perforated bottoms are fastened to them in any suitable manner; or the strips of metal forming the sides and ends of the rectangular frames may be bent to U-shape and joined together, and the bottoms stretched within the frames with their ends secured to them. The frames 36-37 are supported within the drawers on cleats 38 which are fastened to the sides and ends of the drawers. On the front of the drawers handles 39 are provided to enable them to be withdrawn from the chamber; the front of the drawers may also be fitted with receptacles 4O adapted to carry removable data sheets-41 upon which may be inscribed any necessary particulars relative to the number of eggs contained within the drawers, the time of ting, or any other desired information. The

floors are made in two sections 36-37 to en able the smaller section to be withdrawn from the drawers so as to permit chickens to pass from the hatching drawer 17 to the nursery drawer 20.

'The means for transmitting heat to the radiating flues 18 illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 comprise a boiler 42 which rests on the bottom 5 of the incubating chamber. 'The boiler is made of such dimensions to permit it to occupy the greater part of the cavity 19 which extends from the front to the rear walls 1 and 2 of the chamber and the full width thereof and its bottom 43 is preferably curved, while its top 44 may either be flat as shown or it may also be curved. Extendingthrough the boiler is the pipe 45 which has one end 46 open to atmosphere and its other end open to the heating fine 47 above a lamp 48 in the lamp box49, the flue being prolonged through the lamp box to acham-' ber 50 which forms the outer end of the sleeve 51 which surrounds the pipe 45 and projects into the boiler 42. Connected with the sleeve 51 is the funnel- 52 through which water may be fed into the sleeve 51 and from thence into the boiler 42. To permit water to be drawn off from the chamber a tap 53 is fitted to it. Small openings 68 are made in the sleeve 51 to enable circulation of water to occur through the tube 51 and the boiler 42 when the water becomes heated. Above th s heating flue 47 is a damper 5i which is carried on the lower end of a flexible connection 55, the upper end of which is mounted'on the end of a lever 56 associated with any suitable form of thermostatic device 57 located within the incubating chamber and adapted to be operated by the heat of the chamber to raise or lower the damper 54 for the purpose of controlling the supply of artificial heatto the pipe 45 and the boiler 1-2. A thermometer 53 is provided I at the top of. the incubating chamber above the uppermost drawer therein. The thermostatic device 5'? may be setto be operable at a definite 'temperature'of the incubating chamber, say 103 F; the regulation of the device may be adjusted after the temperature of the upper portion of the chamber has been determined by the reading of the thermometer 58.

Atmospheric air is free to pass into the cavity 19 in the incubating chamber through the openings 60 in the bottom 5 thereof and it is brought into contact with the heated surfaces of the boiler 42 and its temperature is thereby raised. It is then conducted into the radiating flues 18 at the sides of the incubating chamber and travels upwardly therein and percolates through the interstices of the Hessian or other fibrous diaphragm 16 into the drawers 9 through the spaces 23 between them; The lT'lGSSlEtH or like porous diaphragm 16 may bo oi' the same i-nesh throughout, or strips 61 (see Fig. 4) of it of differing mesh may be joined to each other to make a sheet of sufficient length and width to form a. porous diaphragm be tween the solid portions of the walls 14: and 15. If the diaphra m 16 is to consist of pieces ofHessian or like fabric of differing mesh it is desirable that the strips of larger mesh fabric should form the top of the madeup sheet of fabric, and that the strips of fabric of gradually smaller mesh should be added in descending order below the top strip to form a complete fabric sheet as described. 5

I prefer to lit to the front of the incubating chamber a rack frame which is capable of supporting the drawers 9 when they are withdrawn from the chamber to enable the eggs carried by them to be cooled. andaired. In Figs. 1 and 3-is shown a frame which is suitablefor the purpose; it is provided with supporting legs 62 and racks each of which is pivoted to the legs and to the battens 63 which are hinged at 64: to the front wall 1 of the chamber. The racks 65 are l..- shaped and two of them are provided for each drawer so that the latter may rest on one portion of them whilst their other portion is pivoted as shown at 66 to the legs 62. The rack frame is positioned in front of the incubating chamber about the drawers 9 and it may be collapsed and folded against the front wall 1 of the chamber. A. cross rail 67, which is pivoted at one end to one of the legs 62 and at its other end detachably secured to one the opposite legs (52 of the frame, serves to strengthen the frame and to brace the legs to each other. When the frame is to be collapsed the cross rail 67 may be folded against the leg 62 to which it is pivoted. I i

In operation, a supply of eggs which are to be artifically incubated are placed in the uppermost drawer of the tier of drawers 9 and when they have been partially incubated the drawer carrying them is removed from the chamber; such drawer is then replaced in the chamber at the level or zone occupied by the next lower drawer in the tier of drawers 9 after the latter drawer has been removed from the level or zone occupied by it and simultaneously another drawer containing a fresh supply of eggs which has preferablv been preheated to a temperature between 85100 F. either in the drawer 21 or in one of the other vacant drawers located in the chamber or independently thereof is positioned in the chamber at the level or zone which was occupied by the drawer carrying the eggs which were first set in the chamber. If the chamber is provided with a vertical row of drawers consisting of seven separate drawers and it is intended to utilize each such drawers for the setting of separate supplies of say hens eggs the drawer can rying the first setting of eggs is removed from the chamber and replaced in the nest lower zone or level of it occupied by the drawer next lower to it as before described at the end of each period of three days so that at the commencement of the fifteenth day it will occupy the zone or level which was occupied by the lowest drawer of the tier of drawers 9, from whence it is removed at the end of the eighteenth day and replaced in the chamber in the zone or level next lower to it after that level or zone has been rendered vacant by withdrawing the drawer which was occupied by it. The latter zone or level is the hatching zone of the chamber and the first setting of eggs contained in drawers positioned in same are allowed to remain therein for a further period of-three days so that the eggs may become hatched. After hatching the chickens may pass to the nursery drawer 20 when the smaller section of the frame 36-37 has been removed from the hatching drawer 17.

Whilst the drawers are located in the separate zones or levels of the incubating chamber the eggs which they carry are subjected to heated air which is radiated through the flues 18 in the chamber and transmitted therefrom to the eggs through the porous diaphragm 16.

The period of time during which the eggs which are set in the chamber are allowed to remain in any of its zones or levels will depend on the number of trays containing eggs which are to be submitted to different stages of incubation simultaneously, and also upon the length of time required for the incubation of eggs of varying nature.

What 1 claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. An incubator apparatus from which waste gases and vapors may be discharged and to which atmospheric air maybe supplied comprising a chamber having an insulated cover and walls, a compartment within said chamber, a plurality of superposed withdrawable drawers having open tops and meshed bottoms mounted in spaced relation in said compartment, said c0mpartment having side walls whose upper and lower portions are solid whilst the intermediate portions thereof consist of porous fabric, flues in said chamber at the side of said drawers or trays through which heated atmospheric air is suppliedto said compartment, means for supplyingartifical heat to said flues, and a thermostatic device associated with said heat supply means and connected with said chamber adapted to control the amount of heat admitted to said chamber.

2. In an incubating apparatus as herein described, an incubating chamber, a compartment within the incubating chamber having side walls and a solid bottom, the lower portions of said side walls being imperforate and extending upwardly from the solid bottom of said compartment and having their upper edges located below the top of said compartment, superposed trays arranged within said compartment, and the lower portions of the side walls of the compartment being spaced away from the sides of the trays to form flues in which waste gases and vapor may descend, and outlet ports arranged at thelower ends of said fines for discharging waste gases and vapor from the incubating chamber.

3. The combination with the incubating apparatus as herein described, of a rack frame adapted to be erected in open position in front of the said incubating apparatus and to be collapsed and infolded thereto said frame con'iprising two or more stanlarzls, a pair of members fixed to the front wall of said apparatus and a plurality of horizontal members pivotally secured to said standards and WaH members and arranged thereon in pairs adapted to act as supports for a series of trays or drawers when. they are Withdrawn from said apparatus and said. frame is in erect open position in front of said apparatus.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed rny, slgnature.

FREDERICK LEONARD MOLL. 

